Sewing-machine trimmer



(NoMudeL) H; CASE. SEWING MACHINE TRIMMER.

No. 495,020. Patented Apr. 11,1893.

Tm: DNI'S 957E145 cc. PHOTGLIYHO. wasnmmos, u c,

NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

HENRY CASE, OF GLOVERSVILLE, NEW YORK.

SEWING-MACHINE TRIMMER.

SPECIFIGAEEION forming part of Letters Patent H0. 495,020, dated April11 1893.

Application filed August 10, 1892. Serial No. 442,649. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY CASE, a citizen of the United States, residingat Gloversville,

in the county of Fulton and State of New York, have invented a certainnew and useful Improvement in Trimming Attachments for Sewing-Machines,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide an attachment applicable tovarious kinds of sewing machines, for trimming the seams as 1 they aresewed, and it is designed more esor leather gloves. 1 i The inventioncomprises arotary disk cutter and a cutter shaft adjustablyinountedupona post, said post being swiveled to the cloth plate or bed of themachine in such way that the cutter may be thrown readily into and outof action and the trimmer be removed from the machine; operatingmechanism interposed between the main or other shaft of the sewingmachine and the cutter shaft by which an intermittent motion is given tothe cutter shaft so that the trimming will be offected only asthestitching proceeds, and a rotary disk guard for the cutter whichco-opcrates therewith to efiect a cutting action, the cutter and theguard being adjustable toward and from the needle hole in order to varythe marginal width of the seam or the quantity cut oif. i

Having thus stated the principle of my invention, I will proceed now todescribe the best mode in which I have contemplated applying thatprinciple and then will particularly point out and distinctly claim thepart, combinations of parts or improvement which I claim as myinvention.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a topplan view.

cutter and adjacent parts, and Fig. 6 shows in plan and elevation, andon an enlarged scale, the cutter guard.

operator with saidcutter. provided with a toothedwheelz' made fastthere- The letter a may designate the cloth or bed plate of a sewingmachine, I) the main drivi g, and is capable of motion in the directionof its length in said post. From the head of the post there extends aspring bracket 72, having a bearing h for the outer end of thecutter-shaft and provided with a shield 7?. over the cutter topreventaccidental contact of the to, and between this wheel and the headf a spring j isinterposed which tends normally to project the cuttershaft and cutter toward the throat plate and permits movement of saidcutter shaft and cutter in the opposite direction for purposes presentlyappearing. A cam is is pivoted in the bracket 72. in front of thewheeland is provided with a handle it by which said cam may be rotated to actagainst the wheel '11 and thereby move the cutter shaft and cuttertoward the post for a purpose presently appearing. The brackethhas adepending lug h which isadapted to engage The cutter shaft is a notch orrecess of in the throat plate and by virtue of the set of the springbracket forcing it downward, this lug holds the cutter in properposition for trimming and also assists in holding the trimmer in place.A movable shield Z is applied to the head f to protect it and theadjacent parts.

The post g extends through a hole in a block m having a projection mfitted in a hole in the bed-plate and on which projection the head frests; and this block is secured to the under side of such bed-plate.The post hasa segment slabbed off to leave a flat portion g above whichis a circumferential groove 9 which is engaged by a locking plate 01onthe block m to lock the trimmer to the machine bed-plate. This lockingplate projects across the hole in the block on a distance nearly equalto the slabbed-off portion of the post and hence when the post is turnedtill its slabbed-oif portion is next the locking plate, the trimmer maybe detached from the machine.

On the block m is journaled a combined ratchet and gear wheel 0 whichprojects up through the bed-plate into mesh with the wheel t'. Thejournal 0' of wheel 0 is stationary, and to its outer end is applied aswinging arm p. This arm is supplied with a post 19 on which is arrangeda click or pawl q which is held in engagement with the wheel 0 by aspring q fastened to the swinging arm and bearing upon the back of theclick. A cam r is secured to the shaft 1) in line withthe swinging arm,and said arm is held up to the cam by a spring 8 secured to said arm andsome fixed portion of the machine. The cam and swinging arm constitute atappet and they will be hereinafter so referred to, and other forms oftappet or other motion may be used to rotate the cutter shaftintermittently in accordance with the progress of the stitch- The guardt for the rotary cutter is composed of a plate t slotted longitudinallyat t to receive the set-screwt by which said plate is adj ustablysecured in a suitable recess in the throat plate a. A bearing socket tis made in the edge of plate and in this socket is placed the journal iof the circular, discous guardwheel t. The guard wheel is secured wheel.

in its socket by the turn-button or screw 1.

tapped in the plate t and overlapping the When it is desiredto trim theseam close to the stitching, the guard will be moved as close to theneedle hole as thelimit of movement of the cutter shaft will permit thecutter to remain in contact with the guard; and when it is desired totrim with a larger margin, the cam will be turned to act upon the wheel'5 so as to move the cutter and cutter shaft away from the needle hole,and the guard will be correspondingly adjusted: In order tohold the camand cutter shaft in thislast mentioned adjusted position,the handle itis made as or provided with a stiff spring to bear against the bracketand lock these parts, but other locking mediums may be used for thispurpose. The forward movement of the cutter shaft may be limited by apin or other device c, therein, coming against the head f. The wheel '5is here shown as made with a sufficiently broad toothed rim to engagethe gear 0 in all of these adjustments, butit is obvious thatthe gearomight be so constructed.

When it is desired to disconnect the trimmer from the machine or to turnit into inoperative position, the cam 70 is turned to move the cuttershaft toward its head and thus separate the cutter from its guard sothat the out ter may swing clear of the guard (by rotation on its post gas a center) and thereby save both frominjury. In this operation of thedevice, the lug h of the spring bracket h must be lifted out of therecess 0, and thereafter traveling on the bed-plate frees thegear-wheels and so permits the swinging of the bracket and cutter-shaft.I

The action of the rotary cutter and cutter guard somewhat resembles thatof a pair of shears and trims the seam clear and fair, whether themargin be small or large. With my trimmer also, the crotches and ends ofthe fingers and thumbs may be trimmed equally well with the other seams.Inasmuch as the trimmer may be turned aside, or swung out of trimmingposition, the sewing machine may be used for sewing purposes only, andthe whole is entirely within the control of the operator and does notrequire a skilled mechanic to adjust it.

It will be seen that my trimmer cannot interfere with the stitchingmechanism and cannot be interfered with by it; and that it isapplicableto a great varietyof if not all sewing machines, the mainrequisite being a suitable medium for. applying power to drive the:cutter shaft. 7

I do not limit my invention to the cam 70 acting againstthe wheel 2' tomove the shaft lengthwise, as said cam may act against any fixed portionof or applied to said shaft for this purpose; and so also the springjmaybe replaced by other returning device. Moreover, whilel prefer thefreely rotating discous cutter guard, I may use a stationary'curved orother guardwith orwithout acuttin'g edge.

I What I claim is 1. disk cutter, a cutter shaft, and means to rotateit, combined 'with a spring bracket in which said shaft is supported, apost sup: porting the bracket. and cutter shaft, and a bearingapplicable to a sewingmachinebed or cloth plate and receiving .thepost-,to permit the rotation of the post tobring the cutter into and outof operative position, and means to connect the bracket and bed orcloth-plate tohold the bracket in operative position, substantiallyasdescribed.

' 2. A seam trimming attachment for sewing machines, comprising a diskcutter, a, horizontal shaft therefor, a vertical post adapted to beswiveled to a sewing machine bed or cloth plate, a horizontal bracketattached to the post, said bracket and post forming bearings for thecutter shaft, in which said shaft is longitudinally adjustable, a camadapted to act against some fixed portion of said shaft to adj ustsaidshaft in its said bearings, and means to rotate said shaft,substantially as described.

3. A seam trimming attachment for sewing machines, comprising a diskcutter, a shaft therefor, a bracket, a post adapted to be removablyswivele'd to a sewing machine bed or cloth plate, said bracket and postbeing united and forming bearings for the cutter shaft in which saidshaft is longitudinally adjustable, means to rotate said shaftintermittently, a cam arranged on the bracket to act against a fixtureon said shaft to move it in one direction,' and a spring to move saidshaft in the other direction and hold it up to its work, substantiallyas described.

4.. A seam trimming attachment for sewing machines, comprising a cutterdisk, a shaft therefor, and means to rotate it intermittently,

. combined with a spring bracket, apost adapted to be swiveled to asewing machine bed or cloth plate and to which the bracket is fixed, thesaid bracket and post forming bearings for the shaft, and a ing on saidbracket adapted to engage a notch or recess in the sewing machine bed orthroat plate, substantially as described.

5. A seam trimming attachment for sewing machines, comprising a diskcutter, a horizontal shaft therefor, a vertical post adapted to beswiveled to a sewing machine bed or cloth plate, a horizontal bracketfixed to said post, the said bracketand post forming bearings for thecutter shaft, in which said shaft is longitudinally adjustable, a camadapted to act against some fixed portion of 7 said shaft and therebyefiect its said adjustment in said bearings, a spring handle for saidcam to hold it in adjusted position, and means to rotate said shaft,substantially as described.

6. A scam trimming attachment for sewing machines, comprising a diskcutter, a shaft.

therefor, abracket, a post adapted to be swiveled to a sewing machinebed or cloth plate,

I ssaid bracket and post forming bearings for l the cutter shaft inwhich said shaft is longitudinally adjustable, a cam adapted to actagainst some fixed portion of said shaft to move it, a rotary disk guardadapted tobe adjustably fixed in the throat plate, and means "to rotatesaid shaft, substantially as described.

7. A seam trimming attachment for sewing machines, comprising a diskcutter, a shaft therefor, a bracket, a post adapted to be secured to asewing machine bed or cloth plate, said bracket and post being connectedand a forming bearings for the cutter shaft in which said shaft islongitudinally adjustable, a gearwbeel fast on said shaft, a camswiveled in the bracket and adapted to act upon the said gear-wheel tomove the shaft in one direction, a spring tending to move the shaft inthe opposite direction, and means to actuate the said gear'wheel toimpart an intermittent rotary motion to the cutter shaft, substantially.as described.

8. A seam trimming attachment for sewing .machines, comprising a diskcutter, a shaft therefor, a bracket, a post adapted to be secured to asewing machine bed or cloth plate, the bracket and post being connectedand forming bearings for the shaft, a gear-wheel applied to the'plate toextend across the face of the wheel to connect the wheel and plate,substantially as described.

10. 'A diskcutter, a cutter shaft, and means to rotate it, combined witha bracket in which said shaft is supported, a Vertical post supportingthe bracket and cutter shaft, and a bearing applicable to a sewingmachine bed or cloth plate and receiving thepost,to permit the rotationof the post to bring the cutter into andout' of operative position, thepost having its lower end slabbed off and grooved to cooperate with alocking plate on the posts bearing and constituting a locking mechanismfor holding the post to its bearing and to permit the ready applicationand removal of the trimmer, substantially as described. v

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of August,A. D. 1892.

HENRY CASE.

Witnesses: r

EZRA A. SUTLIFF, NELSON H. ANIBAL.

